Happy Birthday Thomas!!!

Ryan and Luke have a new baby cousin. Thomas was born early yesterday morning to Greg's brother, Jonny and his wife Jenny. They live here in Denver so we were able to meet him this afternoon at the hospital. The boys talked the whole way there about meeting their "new baby cousin Thomas," but once we got there, they clammed up and were afraid to get close. However, they were very fascinated with Jenny's hospital bed an managed to call the nurse's station at least 3 times while playing with it. We look forward to getting to know Thomas and watching all three boys grow up together.

Ryan's Big Event

Big news today in our household: Ryan pooped on the potty. I realize that this might not be news that many people would want to hear (nor myself 2 1/2 years ago), but it a big deal for Ryan and he is quite proud of himself. After all, the purpose of this blog is for me to keep track of the big events in my kids' lives, and this is definitely a big deal.

The rest of the week has been pretty quiet and normal. Greg was out of town part of the week and the boys and I stayed at home and enjoyed the nice weather. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and a visit from Nana and Grandad.

The picture below is of the boys wearing their new slippers from their G-Nanny. They are actually meant to be a Christmas present, but the boys got their shoes wet outside and their feet were cold, so out came the slippers. They love them, especially when I wear my as well.

I leave you with a rather lengthy video of Luke being crazy. He truly never shuts his mouth and the video is not really out of the ordinary for him. He loves to run through the house and jump and sing-his new favorite song being Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It is hard to hear him sing the whole thing (even though he sang it about10 times in a row), but note the 2 times he falls down. The first he just fell and the second happened right after the first when he ran into a door. It didn't bother him one bit he just jumped back up and kept singing.

P.S. The boys love to sing, especially in the car. Greg and I each have a different Kid's CD in our cars and they know every song on both. My favorite is when Ryan sings along to music when there are no words being sung.

First Snow!

We had our first snow on Friday and the boys were so excited. The weather people totally didn't call for the amount we got and so when I went downstairs to leave for work and saw it I shouted to the boys that it had snowed. They started yelling "snow" (which sounds more like no) and ran down the stairs. They wanted to go outside in their pj's so bad that they got quite upset when we wouldn't let them. Greg let them help him shovel snow off the driveway (really more for their benefit than actual need) and they had a blast. We let them play outside the next day in the back yard and they loved making and throwing snowballs at each other and us. I'm glad they enjoyed it, it is supposed to be 77 degrees tomorrow.

New things:

Luke loves to be "tucked in" when we put him to bed at night. He then wants to "rock-a-bye Luke" (sounds more like uke) and monkey. This is part of his new bed time routine and it has really helped to get him to stay in bed and go straight to sleep - he's usually in the same position when I check on them before I go to bed. The times that he doesn't go to sleep right away, he stands at the door and screams for us. When we go in he walks to his bed and says (very calmly, esp. after he's been screaming for 10 minutes) "tuck in Luke." That is usually all it takes. I wish it worked at nap time.

Ryan is finally saying yes - and he is saying it at appropriate times and answering questions with it - what a relief!

I asked the boys on Friday about their school - who are the friends and what do they sing in music. Ryan started to tell me some of his classmates names - I couldn't understand everything he said, but I did catch the names of the kids I recognized. I asked them what they sing and couldn't understand what they said, so I started naming possible songs. I asked if they sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Luke sang the whole thing to me. Tonight when I was getting his PJ's on he started singing "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear turn around..." I haven't done that one with them, so he must of learned at school, but he knew the whole thing.

I leave you with a picture of Ryan during nap time. I have to separate the boys during nap in order for at least one of them to maybe fall asleep. I put Ryan in my room last week and he was really quiet the whole time. When I went to wake him up at about 4 he was totally crashed out on my bed, with the toilet plunger in his hands! I had closed the bathroom door before I put him down, but he can now open doors. I found his bear in the bathroom (his usual sleeping mate) and Ryan sleeping with what he wishes could be his new favorite toy.

Good Times with Cindi

The boys and I had the best time on Friday hanging out with Cindi. She and her husband were in town for a workshop and we got to see them for the first time in almost a year. Just to recap, Cindi took care of R and L for their first 18 months when we were in Texas. She and her husband were an enormous blessing for us and the boys. I went back to work 3 months after they were born and I never once worried about how they were being taken care of or who was doing it. Cindi loved the boys and that reassured me more than anything else that they were in great care when Greg and I were at work. When Cindi last saw the boys I was trying to get them to say her name, but they never did. They are now non-stop talking machines and they asked about Ms. Cindi all day Saturday and several times today (Ms. Cindi and Matt).

We picked Cindi up Friday morning and we went to lunch and the zoo. As I could have predicted, L became really shy and nervous (poor thing has such a worried little personality) and R immediately saw his chance to flirt. L quickly warmed up and R showed off his new not so desirable attitude. We had a good time at the zoo. They boys love the monkeys and they got to ride the zoo train for the first time. On Saturday, the four of us (including Greg) met Cindi and Matt downtime for lunch. I don't think that R and L remembered Cindi right away, but I think she was familiar with them and they quickly warmed up. We look forward to seeing the both of them again in February because Matt was offered a great opportunity to present at the Christian Writers Guild Conference in Colorado Springs. We can't wait to see them again. Thanks Cindi for hanging out with us!

Cindi is a photographer and she can't go anywhere without her camera!! Lucky for me I think she got some sweet pictures of the boys :)


R enjoyed throwing leaves on Cindi while she was trying to take his picture

L did not want to share his drum with his brother.

L ran straight to the elephant when he saw him, R was much more hesitant.

We saw this same monkey when we went to the zoo in July. He (or she) was fascinated with L then and was again on Friday. It immediately jumped down and came to the glass and stared at L. Isn't that crazy - or maybe they're just related?

Cindi and R.

Cindi and L on the train.

New things:

L talks a mile a minute and I know I've said it before, but he truly amazes us each day with what he can say and what he remembers. My parents drover here in August to bring us some furniture from Lubbock and they borrowed my cousin's green SUV so they could pull a trailer. Today, L was playing with a car and said it was Daddy's car and I told him it looked more like Grandad's old Explorer (not old as in he no longer has it, but his old beat up Explorer he still drives to work everyday). L then said, Grandad green car - he remembered the car from August that they drove and the color.

When L talks he can almost hold entire conversations and he can almost use correct grammar/tense in most of the things he says. He refers to himself as "I" and sometimes gets me and my mixed up - but I think most kids this age talk in the third person, not the first.

Everything that R does is very deliberate. He is deliberately funny, sad, angry and defiant. He says no all of the time and he can also scowl. He can scowl when he's angry, but he'll also do it just to make us laugh. His big event tonight was to pee-pee in the potty. He has gone once before, but I think that was almost an accident. Tonight seemed pretty deliberate and I think he knew what he was doing. We're no where near ready for potty training yet, but we're slowly getting there and I think R will be ready first.

The last picture below is of R having the best time with Matt. He loved his goatee-he stroked it the whole time Matt held him and let out huge belly laughs.

Happy Halloween!

I think the boys are probably all costumed out. Although I did ask L where he was going tomorrow (school), and he said, "trick or treat." This week: last Saturday we took the boys to a church Halloween carnival; on Thursday they had their costume parade at school; Nana and Grandad came on Thursday and we all went to the Children's Museum's Trick or Treat Street that night; and then of course, we went Trick or Treating on Friday. L wore his Robin mask so much (which he insisted on), that his little eyelid was bruised and swollen. L also mastered the art of quickly and quietly taking as much candy out of the Halloween basket as possible before anyone could notice. Overall, they had a good time and they gained more of an understanding of what Halloween is all about (candy and costumes).

Nana and Grandad came this weekend to visit because they couldn't wait until Thanksgiving to see the boys again. Grandad also couldn't wait to give the boys their Christmas presents, so he brought them with him. R and L now have the coolest little red race cars to ride around the house and backyard. The boys had a blast trying to help Grandad and Daddy put them together. They've also had a ton of fun riding them around the house (fortunately the car has rubber wheels which so far hasn't hurt our wood floors). The weather has been so nice here that Grandad thought the boys should enjoy their present now, instead of when it is too cold at Christmas.

The boys had a great time putting their cars together themselves. I was rather impressed that they knew where the wheels and seat should go on the car.

Below is a video of the boys putting their cars together.

They have enjoyed "helping" lately. Greg had to put a new faucet in our kitchen sink and R had the best time trying to help daddy. L woke up from his nap a little a later and they both wanted to be right there with Greg while he was working on the sink.

I've also found that if I'm in the kitchen or doing laundry and the boys are really clingy, if I ask them to help clean the floor, they become much more self-sufficient. It doesn't last too long, however, because someone always hits someone else with the dust mop.

Just for laughs: Greg and I went to a Halloween party on Saturday and we went as John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Thank you Mom and Dad for babysitting 2 nights in a row. Greg and I got to go out to the Melting Pot on Friday night for a real grown-up dinner and then we went to the costume party on Saturday. We almost felt like adults again.